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If you are part of the 61% of Americans carrying credit card debt or one of the 43.5 million with a student loan balance to pay off, you’re going to want to know about a new startup building in Atlanta Tech Village. 

As the name suggests, Ditch is on a mission to help consumers ditch their debt. Founder Luis Andino (pictured in featured photo above) told Hypepotamus that while the AI-powered startup platform is only a few months old, it is creating a niche within the debt management world by helping users avoid mistakes associated with managing and repaying debt.

Andino said the subscription-based platform looks to be an “ally” for people struggling to pay down debt. It is all about helping consumers both understand the behaviors that lead to debt accumulation and the action items that can help them pay it off faster. 

The app can help a user understand what items to pay off first and facilitates those payments from within the app. Ditch’s new AI-powered feature, DASH, serves as a “financial concierge” for users looking for curated financial tips at any moment. 

The World Of B2C Fintechs 

The market the startup is going after is massive. Americans have over $15 trillion in consumer debt, with the average American carrying a $5,700 balance on their credit cards, according to a TransUnion’s report from over the summer. And that’s before factoring in student loans, which The US Department of Education resumed payment requirements on last month after a 42 month pause.

The average student loan borrower has to repay a balance of over $28,000.

Ditch is building in a pretty crowded business-to-consumer fintech world. Apps like YNAB, PocketGuard, and the soon-to-be-defunct Mint all look to help consumers set up budgets. But there are inherent flaws in how these budgeting apps work, said Andino. In fact, Andino intentionally doesn’t use the term budgeting when talking about Ditch, since it sounds like a dreaded chore. And for Andino,…